To recap a few principles, since B-R provides career games, and then per game points, rebounds, assists and minutes, I have gone with an admittedly highly simplistic look on things with:

Rating = points/game + rebounds/game + assists/game

Why use this definition? It's the data I have easily on hand, which while not a good player rating system is a decent wag for these purposes. Then I group players as follows (including a new category for this):

Superstar -- 30+ rating

Star -- 20+ rating

Solid -- 15 to 19.9

Role Player -- 10 to14.9

Deep Bench -- 5 to 9.9

Complete Bust -- less than 5

DNP -- (never played in the NBA)

Keep in mind the stats are career per game averages so lower than the peak performance years of a player. Moreover, there is also strong bias against the recent years as some newly drafted players may well spike up their career 'standing' with more years under the belt.

Since the drafts have grown in number of picks over the years (54 in 1989, 60 nowadays) it is necessary to adjust the career stats by the average for that draft pick number. For example, Kobe Bryant averages 25.0 pts per game for his career, but the average for a #13 pick (including Kobe) is just 9.8 pts per game so his year gets credit for +15.2 points per game for his pick and so on.

Draft by Year

Pick Performance

vs. Expected Perf.

Year

Picks

Gms

Pts

Reb

Ast

Rtg

Gms

Pts

Reb

Ast

Rtg

Super

Star

Solid

RoleP

DeepB

Bust

DNP

1998

58

354

7.4

3.1

1.4

11.9

100

1.5

0.5

0.2

2.2

3

9

7

7

22

8

2

1990

54

400

6.8

3.1

1.4

11.3

131

0.6

0.4

0.1

1.1

6

10

12

18

6

2

1992

54

395

6.8

3.1

1.4

11.3

127

0.6

0.3

0.1

1.1

1

7

11

10

9

10

6

1996

58

355

6.5

2.8

1.4

10.7

101

0.6

0.2

0.1

1.0

3

9

3

10

13

9

11

2003

58

217

6.6

2.6

1.5

10.7

-37

0.7

0.0

0.3

1.0

4

5

5

16

10

6

12

2005

60

143

6.3

2.7

1.3

10.3

-102

0.5

0.2

0.1

0.8

1

5

8

15

16

9

6

2001

57

263

6.2

3.1

1.3

10.6

6

0.2

0.4

0.1

0.7

2

8

6

8

14

11

8

1999

58

276

6.2

2.8

1.4

10.4

23

0.3

0.1

0.1

0.6

2

11

2

7

16

8

12

1989

54

369

6.5

2.6

1.6

10.7

100

0.3

-0.1

0.3

0.5

10

4

10

16

8

6

1995

58

346

5.8

2.8

1.2

9.8

93

-0.1

0.1

0.0

0.0

1

6

5

9

21

8

8

2002

57

202

6.0

2.8

1.1

9.8

-55

0.0

0.1

-0.2

-0.1

1

5

7

13

16

5

10

1997

57

302

6.0

2.5

1.3

9.8

45

0.1

-0.2

0.0

-0.1

2

3

9

11

15

7

10

1994

54

333

5.9

2.7

1.3

9.9

64

-0.3

0.0

0.0

-0.3

1

5

6

12

16

5

9

2004

59

153

5.5

2.6

1.2

9.3

-96

-0.3

0.0

0.0

-0.4

1

7

8

6

16

8

13

2000

58

260

5.7

2.6

1.1

9.4

6

-0.2

0.0

-0.2

-0.4

4

8

14

16

8

8

1991

54

326

5.7

2.5

1.4

9.7

58

-0.5

-0.2

0.1

-0.6

6

8

11

14

5

10

1993

54

330

5.6

2.3

1.3

9.2

61

-0.6

-0.4

0.0

-1.0

1

7

4

10

10

11

11

2007

60

55

4.8

2.4

0.8

8.0

-190

-0.9

-0.2

-0.4

-1.5

4

9

7

15

10

15

2006

60

96

4.6

2.1

0.9

7.6

-149

-1.1

-0.5

-0.3

-1.9

3

5

10

17

16

9

2008

60

20

4.3

1.9

0.8

7.0

-225

-1.4

-0.7

-0.4

-2.5

4

7

5

16

6

22

The first thing to notice is how strong the recency bias is...the three worst drafts at this point are the three most recent seasons. If we compared rookie season averages, chances are good that 2008 will actually shine, with already so many players establishing themselves that there are four stars in Rose, Mayo, Westbrook, Lopez, with Beasley, Gordon, Augustin, Love, and Thompson knocking on the door.

So if we assume over time things will improve for the 2006-2008 span (Kevin Durant as Superstar class of '07 by next season?) then the worst drafts of the past twenty years are 1993 and 1991.

1993 featured one superstar in Chris Webber, and some solid although troubled players in Mashburn, Cassell, Penny Hardaway,
Vin Baker, Van Exel, Rider and Houston. Some top ten underperfomers though in Shawn Bradley (#2), Calbert Cheaney (#6), Bobby Hurley (#7) as well as few 'late hits'.

Enough of negativity though! The best year by far on this scoring system was 1998 which produced three superstars so far in Nowitzki, Vince Carter, and Pierce, with Jamison (29.4 career) still with a look at being a fourth. Then you add in Mike Bibby, Rashard Lewis, Mobley, Hughes, Ricky Davis, Al Harrington, Michael Dickerson and Jason Williams (the pg) all at 20+ career pts+reb+ast. Of the less stellar results, it's Olowokandi (#1), LaFrentz (#3), Traylor (#6).

For pure superstar power, 2003 makes a case with LeBron, Wade, Carmelo and Bosh. Hinrich, Josh Howard, David West T.J. Ford and Mo Williams for 'star' players as well. Darko (#2), Sweetney (#9) and Jarvis Hayes (#10) were the top ten strugglers.

Another superstar rich year was 1996 with Iverson, Kobe, and Marbury as the qualifying 'supers' while Ray Allen and Steve Nash don't quite get to the 30+ rating but are clearly mega-stars in their own right. Then you also have Camby, Jermaine O'Neal, Ilgauskas, Stojakovic, Abdur-Rahim and Antoine Walker as 'stars'.

The big picture might be that you usually discover about two superstars per draft, with another 6-7 solid types. The rarity of the superstars makes misses all the more costly. Consider: